Sliding refrigerator car door



Gct. 18, 1932. A. wAsBx-:RG ET AL SLIDING REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR FiledSept. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l b var n A N. T E l v v/ u l o W E W T lu V E 1 \\i|lll,lf www p M /N il A. \/Vn /ob VA Lf/M VUM 9K f wd/ O w1M., L: Q /M mi n W Mltu. A r l M i u x W l v VA w v/i u Oct. 18, 1932.A. wAsBERG ET AL SLIDING REFRIGERATOR CAB DOOR Filed sept. '27, 1928 2'Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. l,V i932 urm'rr-l) sTATEfs xl"A'lllslNlfOFFHCE AXEL WASBERG .AND KENNETH J'. TOBIN, OF CHICAGO', ILLINOIS,ASSIGNORS TO CAMEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS SLIDING'r` REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR Application filed September27, 1928. Serial No. 308,693.

This invention relates to refrigerator-doors for refrigerator cars.

In the past, it has generally been the practice to provide two hingedrefrigerator doors upon. cars that would swing together upon closing. Itis always more or less diflicult to provide proper insulation for suchdoors for` the reason that their hinged relation with the car gives thema fixed relation thereto, consequently, the problem of eflicientlyinsulating the perimeters of the door has never been satisfactorilysolved. A further objection to these hinged doors resides in the fact,that if left open they would be knocked off when the cars were moved. Y

This invention seeks to avoid the above notedobjections inthe provisionof a sliding refrigerator-car door having a beveled perimeter incombination with operating means for forcibly pressing the door intoabeveled'opening in the car. Since such a door does not have a fixedrelationwith the car, it can always be tightly forced into its beveledseat and no crevices or slack can occur between its perimeter and thecar. With this construction, it is possible to use a door of lessthickness than the wall of the car, thus resulting in considerableeconomy.

The invention comprises the novel struc'- ture and combination of partshereinafter described and more particularly pointed outV and defined inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illusv trate ar preferred formof'this invention and in which similar reference numerals refer tosimilarfeatures in the different views.

On the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of arefrigerator car embodynga slidingdoor involving this invention. l Y

Figure 2 is a sectional Vview taken upon the line II-II of Figure 1,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure Sis an enlarged fragmentarysectional view taken upon thelineIII-III of Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrowsillustrating tlie top of the door in closed position. Y

Figure 4- is a sectional view similar to F igure 3 illustrating the topof the door moved outwardly of its seat. i

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken upon the lineVV of Figure l, looking in theA direction of the arrows and illustratingthe bottom of the door in its closed position.

Figure 6 is aview similar to Figure 5 illustrat-ing the bottom of thedoor moved out from its seat.

Figure is enlarged fragmentary sectional viewrtaken upon the lineVII-VII of Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrows.

F igure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view upon the line VIH-VIII of Figure looking in the direction of the arrows.

F igurc S is an enlarged fragmentary seetional view takenupon the lineIXIX of Figure 8, looking in the direction of tli arrows.

Y the line X-X of Figure l looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

is shown on the drawings:

As illustrative of this invention, there is shown a portion of'arefrigerator car having a door opening provided with a beveled ortapered perimeter l in which a door 2 provided witha beveled or taperedperimeter 3 fits. The door may be constructed and insulated in any wellknown way.

Adjacent one margin of the door opening, in the pre-sent instanceadjacent the upper margin thereof, tnere is a` track 4 which is shown ascomprising the web of a Zfbar, one flange la of which is attached to theupper framework of the car with the other fiange il?) depending andserving as a guide for the door.

Upon the door, there is a roller support or hanger 5. This hangercomprises a lower attaching flange 5a that is cio-extensive with the cardoor. This attaching flange 5a merges into a horizontal portion 5b atright angles thereto. The horizontal portion 5b merges into a verticalportion 50 which extends in parallel relation with the guide flange 4b.The vertical portion 50 merges into an inwardly sloping vportion 5clwhich in turn merges into an upper horizontal hood portion 5e. The hoodportion 5e is integral with a depending flaring flange 5 f having anoffset portion 5g directed toward the sloping portion 5cl. lt will benoted that the sloping portion 5d is of sufficient slope to bring thehood portion 5e sufficiently over the track 4.

A pair of ball retainers 6 are carried by the hood portions of thehangers. Each re-V tainer carries a plurality of rolling elements 7which are in the 'form of anti-friction balls which are adpted to rolltransversely as well as longitudinally of the track, and for this reasonthe upper end of the door can be more readily pulled outwardly. W'ithinthe hood there is a ball race member 8 which cooperates with the flange5f for forming a raceway for the balls. Each retainer 6 is also providedwith an enlarged headk 9 located i above the race-way. lt will be notedthat the race-way terminates in a restricted throat which prevents theheads 9 on the retainers from readily passingv therethrough. Thisfeature provides ready assembly of the parts.

Means are provided for moving the doors inwardly and outwardly withrespect to the tapered seat 1 of the door-way at both the top and bottomthereof. lVhile different means may be used to accomplish this purpose,as a matter of illustration, there is shown a pair of rods 10. rlheyupper ends of the rods 10 are pivoted to door actuators 11. Eachactuator 11 is pivoted to a casting 12 which is riveted or secured tothe door. lt might be mentioned that the attaching flange 5a of thehanger 5 is provided with cutout portions t0 receive the castings 12.Each actuator 11 is in the form of a bifurcated member having anupwardly extending arm 11a, and an arcuate arm 11?) that is curvedtoward the arm 11a. tuator is pivoted at substantially the center partof the arcuate arm 11b as indicated at 13, and that the rod 10 isconnected to the lower end of the actuator in a plane that passesthrough the bifurcation. Assuming that the door is in closed position,as shown in Figure 3, it will be obvious that the elevation of the rods1() will cause the pivot points 14 of such rods to swingvv in the arc ofa circle with the pivot point 13 as a center, with the result that thearm 11a will engage the depending flange 4b of the track Vand cause anoutward pull upon the door forv opening the same as shown in Figure 4.

It will be noted that each ac-Y It will be noted that the hanger 5 iscut away in the plane of the arms 11a to allow the same to passtherethrough as indicated at 15 in Figures 3 and 4. Now if the rods 10are moved downwardly from the position shown in Figure 4, the arcuatearms 11b will engage the interior side of the flange 4Z) of the trackand push the upper end of the door inwardly into the position shown inFigure 3.

Yflange of Z-bars securedY to the lower framework of the car. i hebearing lon the lever 17 for the pivot stud 16fvhas an outwardly anddownwardly inclined plate lug 20. Diainetrically opposite the plate lug20, there is a lug 21 also integral with the lever 17, and this lug 21is pivotally secured to the lower end of the rod 10 as indicated at 22.yA sliding keeper 23 is mounted upon each rod 10. Each slidable keeper 23is provided with a socket Q4 for receiving the upper end of the lever 17when the same is in its vertical position. Each lever 17 and its keeper23 is provided with an apertured lug 25 forA receiving a sealing wire 26whereby the lever v17 may be secured against unauthorized operation.

The insulation between Vthe door and the car may be. effected in variousways. ln thepresent instance, the upper and side members of the dooropening are provided with grooves 27 in which leaf springs 28 aresecured. IThese leaf springs 28 press against woodenA strips 29 whichare provided with an insulated cover 30. The lowerv edge of the door isprovided with an inset insulating member 31 which extends a shortdistance upon the inner side of the door, andwhen the door is in itsVclosed position the insulation upon the inner side of the door abut-san angle member 32 which` extends over thevouter edge of the floor ofthecar. t will, however, be understood that anyother suitable form ofinsulation may be used if desired.

. rlhe manner of opening and closing the doors, and operating the samewill vnow he more specifically set forth. ln Figure 17 the door is shownin its closed position with'the operating lever 17 confined againstmovement by the keepers and sealed thereto. lt is, therefore, necessaryto brake the sealing wires and slidethe keepers upwardly for the purposeof releasing the lever 17 for operation. One of the levers 17 heactuated at a time, or both may be simultaneously actuated if desirable.In opening the door the Atwo levers are swungtoward each other with 'theresult that the plate or blade arm 17a will swing out from under theguide'keepers 18, while the. plate or blade lugs 20 will engage theouter surface of the guide keepers 18, and due to their inclination,they will pull the lower end of the door outwardly. When the levers 17are swung toward each other the arms 21 will naturally be elevated forelevating the rods 10. The elevation of the rods 10 will operate thedoor actuators 11 to pull the upper end of the door outwardly as shownin Figure 4r, and as previously eX- plained. In its pulled out positionthe door may be rolled along on the track'i in the same manner asothersliding doors to obtain access to the car.

When it is desired to close the door, it is first rolled into theposition as shown inFigure 4. The levers 17 are then elevated intovertical position. This movement of the levers will bring the inclinedblades 17a under the guide keepers 18, with the result that the doorwill be moved inwardly and the inclined blades 2O will be moved intoI ahorizontal position at the same time the rods 10 will be drawndownwardly and through the instrumentalities of the upper door actuators11, the upper end of the door will be pushed inwardly. It will,therefore, be apparent that both the upper and lower ends of the doorare simultaneously moved inwardly Aby the` actuation of the levers 17.

It will be appreciated that with the foregoing mechanism it will bepossible to force the door tightly against its seat, and that the j samewill be maintained in such a position during transit without loss oftemperature. Furthermore, the operating parts are so designed that theyolfer no obstructions when the car passes through a tunnel. ItV willalso be appreciated that when the door isin its closed position there isno appreciable load carried by the hangers.

We are aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and we, therefore, do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon` otherwise than necessitated by theprior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a car having aV door opening, a track adjacent one margin of saidopening, a door mounted uponsaid track, upper and lower guides upon saidcar, upper andv lower door actuators upon the door straddling saidguides, and means for simultaneously operating said actuators.

2. In a car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of saidopening, a door mounted upon said track, a forked door actuator pivotedto the `upper end of said door, a rotatable door actuator pivoted to thelower end of said door and embodying spacedinclined members, a rodconnecting said actuators, .and means on the car for cooperatingAv withsaid actuators;

3. In a car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of.ysaidopening, al door mounted upon said track, means for'moving saiddoor. inwardly andV outwardly with re--.

spect to said opening comprising a forked Y member; upon the upperpart'of said door, a two bladed member-pivoted to the lower part of saiddoor, a connection between said members, means for actuating the lowermember and imparting swinging movements to the upper member, and meanson the door for tuators, a lever connected to said rotatable actuator,and means for sealing said lever in its operative position.

5. In a house car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin ofsaid opening, a door mounted upon said track for inward and outwardmovement with respect to said opening, a guide upon the upper portion ofsaid car, a guide upon the lower portion vof said car, an actuatorpivoted upon the door adjacent each guide and having means for engagingeach side of said guide for moving the door outwardly or inwardly, andmeans` for simultaneously operating said actuators.

6. A door actuator comprising av forked member, a second memberhavingfparts at ,right angles to each other, and a rodpivotallyqconnecting said members for operating the same in planes atright angles to each other.

7. In a house car having a bevelled door opening, a track adjacent onemargin of said opening, a door having bevelled edges mounted upon saidtrack for inward and outward movement, a guide upon the Lipper portionof the car, a guide'upon the lower portion of the car, an actuatorpivoted upon the door adjacent each guide and having parts for engagingeach side of said guide for moving the door inwardly and outwardly, andmeans for operating said actuators.

8. In a car having a bevelled door opening, a track adjacent one marginof said opening, a door having bevelled edges to lit said openingmounted upon said track, guides upon the upper and-lower margins of saidopening, and actuators upon said door and having parts for engagingopposite sides of said guides for moving the door outwardly or inwardly,and means for simultaneously operating said actuators.

9. In a car having a door opening, a track adjacent one margin of saidopening, a door, a ball raceway mounted upon said door, balls in saidraceway for engaging said track,

lill) guides upon the upper and lower portions of the car, actuatorson'the door forengaging said guides for operating the door inwardly oroutwardly upon said rollers said actuators having parts -for engagingopposite sides of saidk guides, and means for simultaneously operatingsaid actuators.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names .atChicago,V Cook County, Illinois.

. AXEL WASBERG.

KENNETH J; TOBIN.

